1. Technical Field
The invention generally relates to the field of management tools and, more specifically, to management tools for decision making with respect to intellectual property protection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The ever growing importance of the protection of intellectual property in the form of patents is well known. It is therefore that individuals and firms spend significant resources for the purpose of actively filing and defending their intellectual property rights. In many cases, a portfolio of protected intellectual property is developed, for example in the form of patents, to protect an entity's interests.
A body of prior art has been developed for the purpose of evaluating patent portfolios and distinguishing valued issued patents from those of lesser importance. Some of the tools allow the scanning of existing databases and determining potential patents that ought to be licensed due to the importance of the patents to a business, or identifying potential licensors of certain types of protected intellectual property. Notably, the prior art concerns intellectual property which has already been filed and is to be handled in one way or another. The prior art does not address a paramount issue that individuals and firms face when in the development stage of a portfolio of protectable intellectual property. Nonetheless, this is a key area in which inventors and business managers alike expend efforts and resources to identify inventions that, when protected, provide the best return on investment.
It would be therefore advantageous to provide a management tool that would allow the easy identification of intellectual property worthy of protection. It would be further advantageous if such a tool could take into account budgetary constraints faced by the user of such a tool. It would be further advantageous if such a tool was simple to use and easily understood, without a need to spend significant time and effort in the process.